Prison Orange Never Looked So Good
by Shaddic
Summary: Just a little one-shot of Duncan and Courtney in juvie together.


Five thousand, three hundred and seventy-four. That was the number of times Courtney had blinked. It would have been higher, had she not been interrupted earlier with a food tray, causing her to lose count and have to start over. It was maddening, but it was only thing she could do to pass the time.

She was in solitary confinement in a juvenile detention center, Duncan's little home away from home. She'd gone home with him to meet his family, and it had been going so well, but then that night, he'd convinced her to help him paint the town red. Caught up in the heat of the moment, she had been unable to resist (and it's not like he had asked her to rob a bank or murder anyone). So they each took a can of spray paint from Duncan's old stash and ran around town marking everything and everyone, until the police showed up. Duncan hotwired a car and they tried to escape, but as they were driving, a horse came out of nowhere and stood right in the middle of the road. She swerved to miss it and ran straight in a ditch. Neither of them were hurt, but they were in a lot of trouble. And to top it all off, he'd gotten her in solitary confinement, as well. At least it got her away from her bunkmate, who smelled worse than Chef's cooking.

Her confinement was only twenty-four hours long, and would soon be over. But as soon as she was free, she was determined not to speak to Duncan ever again.

Duncan sat whistling in his confinement cell, not bothered by the tiny, familiar space. But it was boring.

He wondered how long it would be before Courtney would speak to him again. All he had done was joke about how he wouldn't trade her for smokes, and she punched him in the ear, which of course had started a massive brawl between them, not the first and certainly not the last.

He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he'd get back on her good side, or what passed as her good side, anyway. And then they'd be king and queen of the jailhouse.

A few hours later, Duncan and Courtney were both released from solitary confinement and were allowed into the cafeteria. Duncan winked at Courtney as she got her tray of food, but she stuck her nose in the air and went in the opposite direction. He followed her and sat across from her at the table. On her tray was a bowl of what looked like porridge and an apple. She shot him a nasty glare that sent a chill down his spine, but his mischievous grin never faltered.

"You know, prison orange never looked so good," he said as he took the apple and took a bite.

"Go flirt with the guards, you'll have a better chance with them," she said as she stirred her porridge.

"What's the matter? I thought you liked being a bad girl."

"I don't know what I was thinking. I let you talk me into breaking the law, and it won't ever happen again. What we did was wrong, and we should be ashamed."

"I would never be ashamed for having a good time with my girl. Come on Court, there's something you're not telling me. What, prison not treating you well?"

"Would you just shut up for once?" she shouted. "You might not care about being a no-good criminal, you might not care about the rules, and you might not care about your future, but I do! I have my whole life ahead of me, and I've just ruined it in one night. So go away, because we are done, and for good this time."

Duncan was a bit taken aback by this. He suddenly realized what was wrong. "You're worried that your record will ruin your law career."

"It's kind of hard to become a corporate lawyer when you're a criminal." He noticed her eyes fill with tears, and he gently put his hand on hers.

"You know, if someone doesn't want to hire you just because you made a mistake as a kid, then it's their loss. I happen to know that anyone who doubts you is crazy, because you're crazy enough to sway any judge. As if you're going to let something stupid like a criminal record get in the way of getting what you want. And besides, having a delinquent boyfriend is worse than any marks on your record."

Courtney smiled a little and kicked his foot with her own. "Yeah, that's going to have to change when I become an attorney."

"Keep dreaming, sweetheart."

"You really think I can still become a lawyer, even after this?"

"Are you going to let it stop you?"

"Hell no!"

"Well, all right then!" said Duncan as he pounded the table with his fist.

Courtney breathed a sigh of relief. "You may hug me now."

Duncan came around the table and put his arms around her.

"You know I just said all that because I'm going to need a really good lawyer someday."

"It'll be the toughest case of my career, but there's no way I'm losing you."

Just then, a big, burly guy with a lion tattoo on his face came to pick a fight with Duncan. Courtney wondered if Duncan had brought this on himself, or if the guy was just bored. Either way, when he punched Duncan's chin, sending his head back, Courtney leapt up and began an all-out assault on the jerk. Duncan quickly joined in, and they took him down easily. Others joined in as the rest chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!" but Duncan and Courtney were unbeatable. They only stopped when the guards came to take them back to solitary.

Right before they were again separated, Duncan said, "Love you babe!"

She blew him a kiss in response, then she lost sight of him.

Once she was returned to her cell in solitary, she thought to herself, _This place isn't half bad._


End file.
